Successful Aging Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is healthy aging according to the WHO?
A continuous process of optimizing opportunities to maintain and improve physical and mental health, independence, and quality of life throughout life.
*Healthy aging includes both measurable and subjective outcomes
Lines of Action to Promote Healthy Living (image)
- promote public policy and alliances toward healthy aging in the regions of America
- support the development of age friendly environments, adapted to all older persons
- Align health systems that respond to the specific needs of older adults
- develop sustainable and equitable long-term care delivery systems
- improve measurement, monitoring, and research on aging
What is successful aging?
Maintaining high physical, psychological, and social functioning in older age without major disease.
Can be applied at the population level for purpose of policies
* E.g., WHO decade of healthy aging
* E.g., Community plays a role in supporting successful aging
Can also be applied at the individual level
* E.g., Measured by outcomes of physical and cognitive
functioning and life involvement
What are the key aspects of biomedical successful aging?
● Physiological Functioning: avoiding disease and disability
● Cognitive Functioning: maintaining cognitive abilities and preventing memory disorders
● Physical Functioning: maintaining mobility and ability to perform ADLs
What are key psychological aspects of successful aging?
● Actively Engaged in Life: remaining socially involved and maintain their role in society
● Psychologically Well Adapted: positive perception of aging, high life satisfaction, and purpose in life
Factors Influencing Successful Aging
- Physical and social environments
➢ Access to safe and high-quality services and environments - Individual personal characteristics
➢ Age, sex, race/ethnicity, SES - Maintaining healthy behaviors throughout life
➢ Balanced nutrition, regular physical activity, refraining from smoking
What are the social determinants of successful aging?
Social determines of health: conditions in the
environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks
* Social and community context
* Economic stability
* Education access and quality
* Health care access and quality
* Neighborhood and built environmen
Social and Community context:
- Involves interactions with family, friends, community
members - Strong relationships and a sense of solidarity with a
group has a positive impact on physical and mental
health - A sense of connection also helps us cope better with
stress
Economic stability
- Involves having access to resources to afford the
necessities of life - Access to employment or retirement benefits help
reduce economic instability - Economic stability allows older adults to maintain
independence and quality of life
Education access and quality
- Involves our education throughout life as well as
ability to understand information - Closely tied with many aspects of health including
the ability to find, understand, and use health
information (also known as personal health literacy) - Many older adults struggle to understand health
information
Health care access and quality
- Involves ability to access health care throughout our
lifespan - Most older adults have at least 1 chronic condition,
but face barriers to receive the care they need - Barriers include transitions from employer health
insurance to government plans
Neighborhood and built environment
- Having access to accessible, safe, affordable homes and reliable transportation
- Neighborhoods with access to food, green spaces,
and recreational facilities all support physical health
and mobility - Exposure to pollution, crime, and poor living
conditions can increase stress and exacerbate
health problems
Individual Personal Characteristics
Sex:
● Females have a longer lifespan
● Males face higher risks for acute conditions (e.g., heart disease)
● Gender impacts family responsibilities and access to resources and social support
Race/Ethnicity:
● Cultural practices can shape attitudes towards health
● Minorities face disparities in health care access, social support, and resources
Socioeconomic Status:
● Low SES is associated with less access to services
● SES influences health behaviors and mental health behaviors
Maintaining Healthy Behaviors Throughout Life
Balanced Nutrition:
● How we eat directly affects our mental, emotional, and physical functioning
● We should limit the intake of added sugar, saturated fats, sodium, and alcohol
● Our nutritional requirements change across the lifespan influencing how we should eat
Regular Physical Activity:
● Having a sedentary lifestyle is hazardous to your health
● Physical activity is also linked to less brain atrophy, better brain function, and cognitive
performance
● Activity also helps improve mental well-being and prevention of chronic disease
● Regular exercise improves cardiovascular fitness and prevents chronic conditions
Refraining from Smoking:
● Smoking accelerates the aging process and increases mortality risk
● It is the leading cause of respiratory diseases and increases risk of cardiovascular
conditions
● Smoking hastens the aging process including skin damage, wrinkles, and age-related
diseases
Challenges of Successful Aging
Numerous barriers exist that prevent some older adults from achieving successful aging
● Low income: lower income individuals may struggle to afford health care, nutritious food, and
safe housing
● Minority status: racial/ethnic minorities face discrimination and unequal access to resources
● Low education: those with lower education have reduced health literacy and reduced financial
stability / job prospects
● Geographic location: those in rural areas often lack adequate health and social services
Innovative Approaches to Successful Aging
With the advancement of technology, we can use it to improve aging and address some of the challenges
in successful aging.
● Social connectivity: social media platforms like zoom, facetime, whatsapp help people stay
connected with family and friends
● Health monitoring and management: various fitness trackers and smart monitors provide real
time feedback and allow for remote monitoring of health systems
● Safety and emergency response: other wearable devices have emergency buttons for real time
monitoring of people in their environments
● Assistive technologies: devices and technology such as hearing aids and bifocals help improve
accessibility for individuals with sensory or physical impairments
● Access to health information and education: many apps exist to manage medications, track health
metrics, and access health information
Contributions to Prevention
● Primary prevention: an intervention that prevents disease or condition from occurring
○ Access to safe and high-quality services and environments
○ Promoting balanced diets, physical activity, and refraining from smoking
● Secondary prevention: program initiated after a condition has begun and before significant
impairments have occurred
○ Regular checkups, improving diet, increasing physical activity, and quitting smoking
● Tertiary prevention: involves efforts to avoid the development of complications or secondary
chronic conditions, manage pain associated with chronic conditions, and sustain life through
medical interventions
